Zimbabwe PM Morgan Tsvangirai says he's sorry for breaking hearts

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (R) kisses his wife Elizabeth Macheka (L) after exchanging vows at a customary law ceremony during their wedding held in Harare on September 15, 2012.

Morgan Tsvangirai is sorry. He didn't mean to hurt you, baby.

But the road to true love can be complicated, the newly re-married Zimbabwean prime minister told 20,000 supporters at a rally in Bulawayo, according to Agence France-Presse.

"I know the road I traveled to make this choice has been rough and has been filled with all sorts of trouble, but I am glad I eventually made my choice," Tsvangirai said Saturday, alluding to his wedding to Elizabeth Macheka earlier this month.

"I had no intention to hurt anyone. It was a genuine search. I want to apologize to anyone who has been hurt," he said.

Tsvangirai, 60, spurned two other women in favor of Macheka, 35, the daughter of a high-ranking official from rival President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.

The couple married in a traditional ceremony in September despite one of the women claiming she was his legitimate wife, and the other claiming she was engaged to him, AFP said.

A magistrate's court had granted the request by Locadia Karimatsenga Tembo to block Tsvangirai's marriage to Macheka, prompting Tsvangirai to get hitched under Zimbabwe's customary marriage law, which allows polygamy.

Tembo claimed she and Tsvangirai were married last year, and he reportedly paid her family a bride price before calling off the ceremony.

Tsvangirai said their relationship had been "hijacked" by political opponents, including state security agents, and was "irretrievably damaged," the BBC said.

A South African woman, Nozipho Shilubane, tried to stop Tsvangirai's marriage to Macheka by claiming he had promised to marry her.

Tsvangirai's first wife, Susan, was hailed as "a mother of the nation." She died in a car crash less than a month after Tsvangirai became prime minister in 2009.